Cold Hands & Feet Symptoms

• Frostbite and frostnip
  
  
  • Frostbitten body parts are white and hard or waxy. They may be white-purple or white-yellow.
    
    
  • Frostnipped parts are white but not hard and are generally very small areas.
    
    
  • Frozen parts have no feeling.
    
    
  • During the freezing process, they may tingle or feel like a block of wood.
    
    
  • Once frostbitten areas thaw, they may be painless or tingle.
    
    
  • When they are rapidly rewarmed in warm water by the recommended method, they may be painful.
    
    
  • Over the next few days the part is often painful and swollen.
    
    
  • Blisters may appear, and severely affected areas turn black.
  
  
• Immersion injury
  
  
  • Areas affected by immersion injury are first red, and then turn pale and swollen.
    
    
  • Numbness or painful tingling may occur.
    
    
  • After the first few days, the part becomes very red, tingling, swollen, and may have blisters, skin breakdown, or even liquefy.
  
  
• Pernio
  
  
  • Pernio is a rash on the lower legs, feet, toes, hands, or ears that may be red or blue and may form scaly areas or lumps.
    
    
  • Rarely, affected parts may bleed, blister, or have skin breakdown.
    
    
  • Often pernio causes itching and burning.
  
  
• Raynaud syndrome refers to constriction of the blood vessels of the hands or feet, which causes white skin and is often painful.
  
  
• Cryoglobulins cause a wide array of symptoms, including Raynaud phenomenon. Raynaud phenomenon is the name given the symptoms of Raynaud syndrome when a known disease causes these symptoms.
  
  
• Cold urticaria refers to raised red bumps or hives produced in response to cold exposure.